The Red Haired Stranger
by Guardian of Nesh
Summary: One-shot. Silver shows up in Goldenrod City after the Wallace Cup and challenges Dawn to a battle. However he seems to have some ulterior motive for this. What possible reason could have to seek out Dawn?


**The Red Haired Stranger**

Disclaimer: Pokémon various videogame, anime, and manga rights belong to their respective holders of which I am not one.

Silver walked in silence. He knew had to hurry if he wanted to meet her, after all, she was only here in Johto for a little while. In all honesty he'd just gotten really lucky, he wanted to meet this girl for a long time but she'd had no reason to come to Johto. That all changed with the Wallace Cup being held here.

He'd watched her win the Wallace Cup, putting his training in the Dragon's Den on hold just to come here to Goldenrod City, just to meet her. He hadn't even known if she would be here. Some of the female trainers in the Blackthorn Gym had been talking about it and he overheard. He'd just hoped she couldn't ignore the allure of a Pokémon Contest. Lucky for him that had been the case.

Finally he reached his destination outside the Contest Hall, having made it through the throng of excited fans who were on their way out. He waited just as he walked, in silence. After a few minutes she stepped out, her Piplup in her arms.

"Dawn Berlitz?" he asked, he had to be absolutely sure that this was who he was looking for. He knew this girl was from Twinleaf Town and he figured the girl he was looking for would be too. That was where she'd lived last he knew. The first name and hometown were the same but that didn't mean he was correct in assuming this was the one he was looking for.

"Yeah that's me," she said with a confused look on her face, "but not many people know my last name. Do I know you?" Silver smiled at her.

"No, you don't know me," he said, "I guess you could say I'm a fan of yours." Dawn brightened up immediately even though his voice never lost its trademark serious tone.

"I have fans here in Johto? Wow. I guess you want an autograph or something right?" she asked. Silver's smile widened and took on an almost predator like quality. There wasn't any malice or hatred there, like there would be for say Team Rocket but it was still quite chilling if Dawn's worried face was anything to go by.

"No, I want to battle you." Silver declared.

"You want to battle me?" she asked. Silver nodded.

"There's a battlefield behind the Pokémon Center. We can use that one, that is if you're interested." He said.

"I'll be there, no need to worry!" Dawn said with confidence shining in her eyes. Silver looked forward to seeing if that confidence was justified. He knew she was good, but was she good enough to face _him_? He nodded once more and made his way to the battlefield behind the Pokémon Center. He waited a full ten minutes before she joined him.

"Glad you decided to join me." he greeted.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Silver," Dawn said, "I was having Nurse Joy check out my Pokémon."

"That's not a problem Dawn, it's always good to make sure your Pokémon are in good health," Silver assured her, "Now I know you're a busy girl, you probably want to get back to your Contests in Hoenn so here's what I propose for this battle. We each use one Pokémon each: our starter. I feel this is the quickest way to gauge your strength as these Pokémon have been with us the longest and therefore best reflect our styles."

"Alright, sounds good to me, you ready Piplup?" Dawn asked. The little penguin Pokémon voiced its agreement and hopped down on the ground from Dawn's arms. Silver smiled to himself, how ironic that they would both pick Water type Pokémon as their starters. He grabbed a Pokéball and enlarged it.

"Feraligatr, come on out!" Silver threw the Pokéball and with a popping noise and a brilliant white light the aforementioned Pokémon appeared. Every time Silver saw his starter he was reminded of how far he'd come. He hadn't acquired his oldest and dearest friend in the way most Pokémon Trainers did. He'd actually stolen Feraligatr from Professor Elm's lab back when it was still a Totodile. Back then he hadn't treated his Pokémon very well at all. It had taken a defeat from Lance of the Elite Four and his continued losing streak to Gold to turn things around for him.

"Oh wow, a Feraligatr." Dawn pulled out her Pokédex.

"_Feraligatr, the Big Jaw Pokémon. The final evolution of Totodile. Once a Feraligatr has clamped its powerful jaws around an opponent, it won't let go until the opponent is defeated."_ He heard the Pokédex say.

"Look like this is going to be a tough one." Dawn mused aloud. Piplup chirped in a reassuring manner.

"I'll let you have the first move Dawn."

"Alright Piplup use BubbleBeam," Dawn ordered. The penguin Pokémon let out a large stream of bubbles that raced toward Feraligatr. Silver gave no order. The attack connected dead center, kicking up dust. When all was said and done Feraligatr looked perfectly fine, "No way!" Silver smirked.

"Feraligatr, use Slash." The claw of the alligator like Pokémon glowed and it charged toward the much smaller Piplup.

"Dodge it quick Piplup," to the creature's credit did try to dodge but Feraligatr was just too quick for it. The attack sent Piplup flying across the room, "Piplup are you alright?" The penguin got up and nodded,

"Impressive, your Piplup is quite strong; I haven't met many Pokémon who weren't fully evolved that could a Slash from Feraligatr." Dawn smiled at him.

"Piplup's been tough since the day I met him. Now use a spinning Headbutt!" Piplup launched itself into the air headfirst at Feraligatr. Again Silver didn't order his Pokémon to dodge and the attack connected. This time Feraligatr stumbled backward and displayed some small amount of pain but Silver was still stone-faced.

"Grab it and use Crunch," Feraligatr did as it was told and poor Piplup found itself in between its powerful jaws, "Now throw it." Feraligatr jerked its head around quickly while releasing its opponent from its jaws. Piplup went flying into the wall behind Dawn.

"Piplup!"

"Is this really the best you can do Dawn, I'm disappointed," he said, "If this is all the challenge you can offer me then we might as well just end this here." Silver had truly hoped she was stronger than this. The whole reason he'd even come out here was to test Dawn. He'd been hoping she would be able to do what he couldn't and defeat _him._ Once again Piplup stood up but looking like he'd seen better days. The penguin had a defiant look in its eyes.

"Piplup, do you want to continue, we'll go with whatever you decide," Dawn asked. The Pokémon nodded, "Alright then we'll keep going and we're going to win. No need to worry, when we work together there's nothing we can't do!" Silver smiled. She reminded him of Gold. Always peppy, dedicated to her Pokémon like they were her family, and never giving up, every quality a great Trainer needed.

"Are you sure I mean it's plain your Piplup can't beat my Feraligatr, not as things are. I don't want to hurt it." Silver said. Then Piplup dropped something on the ground it looked like an everstone.

"Oh, Piplup, you didn't have to do that… I gave you that because you didn't want to evolve." Dawn said as her Pokémon began to evolve.

"It looks like he changed his mind. Your dedication to him made him want to do everything he could to help you win Dawn," Silver explained, "but now back to our battle. Feraligatr, Aqua Tail." A spiral of water enveloped the Pokémon's tail and in charged the newly evolved Prinplup.

"Prinplup, counter with Hydro Pump!" Dawn commanded. Prinplup let a stream of high pressure water loose from its beak that hit Feraligatr in the face and managed to make Silver's Pokémon fall on to its back. Feraligatr got back up with a slight sluggishness.

"Feraligatr return!" Silver returned his starter to its Pokéball.

"What are you doing," Dawn asked, bewilderment etched on her features, "The battle's not over Silver."

"It is for me, I saw what I came to see. I just wanted to meet you and test you." He told her.

"Why?" she asked. That made Silver pause. He _could_ tell her his reasons outright but she'd never believe him. He'd have to go with his original plan and hope for the best.

"Challenge the Kanto Pokémon League," Silver instructed, "When it comes time to get your eighth badge in Viridian City ask the Gym Leader about me. Then all will become clear."

"But I'm a Pokémon Coordinator, my love is for Contests, not Gym battles." she protested.

"That's a shame," Silver said with a shrug, "If your Prinplup is any indication you would do quite well in Gym battles, and if you don't take the Gym challenge you never know who I am. However if you do decide to do as I ask and wish to find me when all is said and done, all will be in the Dragon's Den in Blackthorn City here in Johto." With that he began to walk away.

"Well what's going to stop me from just following you and making you give me the answers?" she asked.

"I won't speak to you again until you have defeated the Viridian Gym Leader. Until them I'm just the red haired stranger you met in Goldenrod City." He answered simply as he kept walking.

"_I'm sorry Dawn but this is the way it has to be," _he thought, _"I already failed miserably, now you're the only one who can beat him and make him come back to his senses. You must defeat our father." _With that he left his twin sister's sight, hoping against all hope that she would do as he asked. Hoping that she would do what he couldn't and defeat Giovanni.

* * *

So yeah this isn't really meant to make sense in any continuity as I make references to both the games and the anime. I was just a random ide I had that I decided to write out. Yeah I know it's really weird but so is my brain. I don't intend for this to be more than a oneshot but if people want more I'd consider doing more. However as I have a lot of stories I want to write, it wouldn't come for awhile.


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